A Kansas City man has been cited by the Missouri Department of Conservation in connection to the fatal shooting of a pet deer at Elmwood Cemetery, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday morning.

Court documents said that Vankirk saw the deer while he was grilling at his nearby home on the evening of Aug. 3. Vankirk said that he went inside his home, got a .45 caliber handgun, shot the deer and watched it run a short distance before it fell to the ground, court documents said.

Vankirk then tried to drive his car into the cemetery to get the deer, but the gates were locked, so he decided to leave the deer where it was, court documents said.

Vankirk told a Missouri Department of Conservation agent that he killed the deer to help feed his girlfriend and 8-month-old child, a probable cause statement said.

Vankirk also said in the statement that he was "extremely sorry and that if he could take back his actions he would, and that this was not a malicious act, but an act intended to put food on the table for his family."

The conservation agent said that Vankirk lawfully owned his handgun and that he did not have a criminal record.

The maximum fine for taking a deer out of season is up to $1,000 and a year in jail, the prosecutor's office said.

A memorial for Ella will be held on Sep. 14 at 11 a.m. at Elmwood Cemetery.

"I tell people that she was a wild animal, she was not a pet, but she was family," said Bruce Matthews of the Elmwood Cemetery. "An 8-year-old can't eat venison, but I don't know the whole story."